NHL Insider Drops Surprising Leafs Trade Report...

Financial Insider has just dropped a surprising Leafs trade report. As folks, rumors are escalating surrounding the Leafs and a very notable defenseman. We're going to break down these new reports as well as some rumors and discuss what it all means going forward as John Tschek continues to look for a defenseman as well as a few other updates on this episode. But before we get into it, be reminded to hit the subscribe button. You guys are in peace with the support. Darius, this is a name that... We haven't discussed before on the channel, or at least recently, and it all started with a report from Pierre Lebrun just a couple days ago when he said, surrounding Roman Yossi and his future with the Predators, if they're 10 points out at Christmastime, I think it behooves Chris McFarland to go to his captain and say, how do you feel about a potential move that is possible? So not a lot of people are saying that they're not going to trade, you know, the face of their franchise, arguably, and, you know, Roman Josi. At the end of the day, it does seem like a potential trade. The avenue is there per Pierre Lebrun. And Darius, there has been countless articles talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs and Roman Yossi for the clear reason they actually kind of need a guy like him. Now, we're going to dive into whether or not we think it fits, his age, all that stuff. But Darius, definitely an interesting report. And Pierre Lebrun reporting that there might be a potential avenue here for a trade. Yeah. And it's, it's an interesting idea, like on the surface right away. Again, like you said, we'll get into the specifics, how this works and what would go back the other way, but it's certainly an interesting idea. Like he's been one of the best defensemen in the league for a long, long time. And I think with where you see Nashville going now, it just hasn't worked out there with that big splash that they made in 2024 and free agency, right? Like it has not worked out for them. They need to go in a different direction. And I think it could be headed for a rebuild at this point. Now, when that happens, I mean, Maybe it is December, like Pierre Lebrun was talking about, right? It could happen quickly here. Because I just don't think they can compete in the Central Division at all right now. It just hasn't worked out, right? So when you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, they need defensive help. Roman Josi, one of the better defensemen out there, that would certainly help if you're just looking at it that way. Here's the problem for me, though, Nick, with this. He's old, right? Like the thing we've been talking about the whole time this season, when we're talking about they need defensive help, they need to go make a trade. And why I kept bringing up Simon Edvinsson is because he's a guy who can come in and be a difference maker, can play top line minutes, but he's 23 years old. So when you're talking about trading a Ben Danford or a young prospect, right? And multiple assets going the other way, I would do that for a young guy who can play top line minutes. That's 23, right? Can log 22 minutes a night. I would do that. You know, Roman Josi can do all of those things as well, but he's 36. He's near the end of his career. Now we were talking off camera to Nick and, you know, we can get into it having a very good season despite, you know, Nashville not being a great team, but, um, you know, he, would he definitely help this team? Yeah, absolutely. But then you would fall into again, what the Leafs do all the time and what they're known for, which is trading great young skill for, Hey, this would help us right now, but this could fall apart very, very quickly. Yeah. And he's obviously the captain in Nashville. We can look at the timeline here. Jeff Merrick proposed it back in June. And then, of course, Pierre Lebrun in October. And then Sean Sinclair of NHL Trade Rumors will take that with a grain of salt, saying that there's been a connection between Toronto Nashville. And it actually wouldn't surprise me if the Leafs have talked to them already about it. Now, there are other reports saying that, you can see here from Chris McFarlane directly, the GM will try to make additions. And if there's something that makes sense, we'll look at it. So, it's not completely out of the realm possibility that they do trade Roman Josi, because they've been really, really bad. Regarding Roman Yossi, I mean, what would a trade take, all that? I mean, Yossi is still an elite defenseman in the league. Yes, he's 36. This will kind of be a win-now move, and is this team one win-now move away from being Stanley Cup contenders? I'm not entirely sure that getting Roman Yossi would make them Stanley. Maybe they would, though, with how good this forward group has been. So if you are going to push it, and I think if there is anybody who is on the side of, I want to bring in Roman Josi, He would be, I mean, he would instantly propel this blue line. That's been playing a little bit better lately. And the forward group when healthy is also one of the best in the league so far this season. So I think if you do want to kind of push towards a reason to do it and go all in, it's because even though he's 36, you'd be pushing for this year slash next year, potentially, depending on how things kind of work out there in Toronto with Roman Yossi. It does create some interesting pairing opportunities. We'll dive into what it would take in a minute, but you can look here. I mean, Yossi and Darren Radish would be a very interesting combo. You have McCabe, Stetcher, and Riley, and whoever you want to throw in there at the end. It could be Nick Blankenburg. It could now be Chris Tanev, obviously, right? Instead of Nick Blankenberg. So all of a sudden, you're in a pretty interesting spot, but there are a lot of hurdles, including, of course, the salary and what it would take, which would definitely start with Ben Davenport. And of course, with the way the cap is now, it would definitely be difficult. And they would be well over the cap and he is signed for next year. So again, love talking about it because we talk about it every day, the tagging rules. So that would come into effect as well. And that would be a little bit easier than some of the other contracts that we've been talking about, maybe, but $9 million, you would imagine, you know, maybe Morgan Riley would have to be involved. Hey, Riley, would you wait to go to Nashville, right? Like that would be a factor here too, because you would have to move money out. That's the thing. And a lot of people, I keep seeing in the comments and everywhere on social media, oh, the Leafs are right up against the cap. They have no cap space, all this stuff. They can, and they're going to try to package guys like Joshua into trade so they can launch $3 million at a time out, right? And what they're going to try, at least, I don't know how likely that is, but near the trade deadline and later on in the season, there's going to be teams that are wanting to add maybe a Dakota Joshua to their lineup and different teams have different needs that are heading into the playoffs, right? So maybe that opens up an interesting door there, but they're going to continue to try and shed salary that they don't really need on the team, right? So they have a little bit more cap space than I think people realize, but they would still need to shed some cap too. You know, make this work and for next season to keep that in mind with Karel Marchenko getting that big raise. Right. So that is definitely a factor. But again, like, would he help this team right now? Like, yeah. Are they one defenseman away from being Stanley Cup contenders? I don't know about that. But I mean, I think they're one defenseman away from being a much better team. That's for sure. That's something that they're lacking. Right. And he's been one of the best for a long, long time. But again, my problem lies with Chris McFarlane is a very smart guy. Came from the Colorado Avalanche. The new general manager, of course, of the Nashville Predators and pulling the strings there. He's a smart guy. He's going to want a big return, right, for a guy like this. So when you're talking about what goes out the other way, I'm not going to bring up Easton Count in this because of the age and different factors. But I think that, you know, you would be paying, you know, Ben Danforth, probably first round pick, stuff like that. I do think I have a problem with that because of the age factor here. You don't know how that's going to play out. I don't know, two, three years from now. And, you know, it might be a good move this season. But again, I worry about that. So when I was talking earlier this season about going out and trading for a difference-making defenseman and you launch picks and these prospects and stuff like that, I'm talking about like a Simon Edvinsson, a guy who's going to come in and be a stud defenseman for you for eight, 10 years, right? Not necessarily Roman Josi. As much as that would help right now, I don't know what that looks like in four years as he's even still playing. Yeah, you had to potentially extend him though. They see a two-year window here to really go in. I mean, a conversation could be starting at Morgan Raleigh, Ben Danforth and a first, and you'd probably go from there and kind of see how it all works. And that's where it becomes interesting, do the Leafs want to do that? Would the Predators even entertain that? Because it would require a lot. I mean, they're trading a captain. They have to decide whether or not to move him. And obviously, Josi would have to agree as well to come to Toronto. So there is a lot of factors here that probably push it away from being super, super likely. That being said, though. I don't know. I feel like, obviously, replacing Bland浦ke here with Chris Tanev, I feel like adding Roman Josi to this group would be quite the interesting pairing, and especially now when you look at it from the perspective of the standings as well. Now, Nashville right now is in a wildcard spot, so maybe they wouldn't even consider it. I do suspect they're going to fall out of it pretty significantly by the deadline, I think, as of right now. When we look at this, comparing... The Western Conference and the Eastern Conference and where the Leafs currently stand. I mean, you can see here teams that are 6-4-5 are in a wildcard spot with the Predators. Teams that are struggling like, I mean, San Jose Sharks are 7-9. They're just two points out. It will be very interesting to kind of see what happens. Is there any final thoughts? Yeah, I think when you're looking at the, like you mentioned, they're in a wildcard spot right now, but I think they're going to fall out of it. There's other teams that are lower than them that I expect to pick it up, like Anaheim, for example, like even St. Louis. There's teams under them that I think are going to pick it up and they're going to continue to fall. But despite that, they could find themselves in the middle of the pack there, even, you know, around a wildcard spot. It's the age of some of their players. I feel like Stamkos is getting up there, right? Yossi's getting up there. It's the age factor with a lot of their players that they went out and signed a couple of years ago and already the core group that they had there that I think lends to new management coming in. Maybe we're going in a different direction, right? So I feel like they're finally just going to say, we have to do it because we're going to have to do it at some point. Let's do it now, right? If we're just kind of hovering around. So that'll be interesting to monitor. Now, again, does it work out? He has to wait to come here. The Leafs would have to move money out. As always, unlikely, and it's tough right now. And one thing that I thought was interesting. That I saw yesterday, it was revealed that Freddie Hamilton was basically brought in to be the capologist to kind of do that job. And apparently he's learning on the fly. So that's why a lot of things are kind of sketchy right now, why they had to throw Ylonen into that deal. I don't know if I love that report, like the way it was, uh, you know, uh, not the way it was reported, but the way that they're kind of handling that stuff, uh, because literally the Toronto Maple Leafs, but, uh, that, that is a little tough. So that's something that I think they're dealing with internally right now, too, where it's like. They're learning on the fly how to fit all this and manage this with the tagging rules and stuff like that. Yeah, they're going to have to do that, obviously, if they make a trade. They'll see really any trade. So I'll keep you up to date. Let us know down below what your thoughts are.